We Were Golden
by Ksiezniczka
Summary: Hinted but not explicit LietPol.  Historical.  The once-powerful Commonwealth is slowly but surely being torn apart by its power-hungry neighbours, and Lithuania and Poland are powerless to stop it.


_"Hey...Liet?"_

-1575-

"There you are!"

The sudden burst of noise surprised the short, blonde man kneeling on the ground, causing him to whip his head about so suddenly, his wheat-coloured hair nearly whacked him in the eye.

"Liet!" Poland forced a smile upon his face before standing and turning to greet his partner. "I totally didn't even know you were, like, looking for me!"

The brunette nation-tan tried to give his companion a stern look, but he was so tired it merely looked comical.

"You missed another meeting," Lithuania crossed his arms. Poland merely flipped his hand nonchlantly before replying:

"I'm so tired of those meetings anyway, y'know? They totally suck in a major way."

"It's because of you that we keep having them!" Lithuania threw his hands up in frustration.

The blonde bit his lip, but didn't say anything. His companion sighed, rubbing a forefinger to one of his temples.

"Przepraszam," he apologised in the other's language, knowing it was more likely to gain the blonde's attention. "It's a stressful time for all of us right now."

It wasn't just an excuse; for three years now, their once seemingly all-powerful shared territory had been in an increasing state of turmoil. Ever since the death of the last of the Jagiellons, the dynasty that had brought the two together, nobody knew what the future held. And that, though neither Poland nor Lithuania would ever admit it out loud, was terribly frightening.

"So..." Poland began.

"Yes?"

"Are we, like, any closer to a decision?" He was referring to, of course, who the next king would be. The last king, Sigismund Augustus, had left no heir, and Lithuania had no Grand Dukes of his own to offer up, and so their large chunk of the European continent was up for grabs - a tempting prize for many of the crown heads of Europe.

Lithuania shook his head. "Your nobles still favour the Archduke from Austria's home."

Poland blinked in surprise when his partner called them "your nobles," but chose not to comment on that, instead wrinkling his nose. "As if! I'm so not letting that loser Austria or his Habsburgs anywhere near my stuff! You know all that his emperor wants is to totally use us against Turkey!"

"If you ever attended the meetings, you might be able to convince them that! And besides, it's better than what Russia's king wants!"

"Omigod, Liet, like, who even cares? That Russia's a total backward nutcase anyway."

"Why can't you take this more seriously?" Lithuania asked quietly. "You know they call his king Ivan the Terrible, and he wants to cut us in half... Poland, your life is at stake."

The blonde snorted. "You think I don't know that, Liet?"

The two stared at each other for a minute: Poland waiting for Lithuania to reply, and Lithuania not obliging, waiting for Poland to elaborate. In the end, the Pole's stubbornness won out, and the Baltic nation spoke:

"Poland, you need to tell me when you're upset... I only want to help you..."

"I'm totally fine, Liet," the blonde shrugged it off. "You're the one who's all, like, stressed or whatever."

"Bullshit. If you're fine, why are you on your knees in an empty chapel?" Lithuania gestured around them, where icons of saints glared down at the pair. The brunette himself had once hated this, feeling the statues were judging the relationship between he and Poland. Right now, that was the furthest thing from his mind.

The blonde bit his thin lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood, but still enough to leave marks. The brunette reached over to squeeze his partner's shoulder reassuringly. Poland looked away, but didn't move other than that.

"Liet... what's gonna happen to the Commonwealth?"

"I don't know, Poland. But I won't let Austria or Russia hurt you."

Poland almost told him, "it isn't me I'm worried about," but chose not to. Lithuania's face in times like this was already so not funny.

_"Yes?"_

-1621-

Lithuania buried his face in his hands as he sunk down onto his bed. He was always so tired lately, a fact that never ceased to frustrate Poland.

"You, like, so never have time anymore, Liet! It's all like 'I have a headache' or 'I'm too tired'!"

The nation rubbed the sore shoulder of his sword-arm. Thirty years of fighting and for nothing - just today, he and Poland had lost a chunk of territory including the important city of Kiev to a female nation who called Russia her brother.

Lithuania wasn't sure if she really was Russia's sister, but it was still bothersome. He was half of what was supposed to be the most powerful territory in Europe, and supporters of such a backward nation as Russia were bringing him and Poland down so easily.

And Poland himself wasn't doing much to help, either. Lithuania knew he shouldn't think that - Poland was dealing with his own problems right now too - but it was hard not to get frustrated with so much going on.

The sound of a creaky doorhinge snapped the nation from his thoughts.

"Liet?" Poland said quietly. "Are you, like, alright? It's like way too early to sleep."

"I'm not feeling too well. I think I ate something bad," the brunette lied.

"...you realise I totally don't believe that for one second, right?" The shorter of the pair climbed onto the bed beside his partner. "It's your shoulder again, isn't it?"

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" he replied with a weak smile.

"After, like, 200 and a half years or whatever? No freakin' way!" the blonde replied with his odd way of speaking. It had once annoyed Lithuania, but now it was strangely comforting.

For a short while, neither said anything, Poland rubbing his partner's sore shoulder in an effort to calm the other.

"Poland," the taller of the pair spoke again after a few minutes, confessing, "I'm worried."

"Pfft, about what? You're just, like, getting old or something."

"We lost a huge part of our Commonwealth today! How can you just blow it off like that?"

The blonde gave a small smile to calm Lithuania down a little, still massaging his shoulder.

"Liet, do you, like, really think I'd let a barbarian like Russia take you away from me? I would so not!"

"If the Cossacks keep revolting in Russia's favour, you might not have a choice," the brunette looked down at the floor, a serious expression on his face. "Especially with Prussia and Austria drooling over our Commonwealth."

"Well, like, of course those losers are drooling over it - we're totally the crown jewel of Europe! But you worry, like, way too much, Liet - we can so kick their asses."

"Can we?" Lithuania sighed. "We lost Kiev today - that's not some marshland, that's an important strategic city! You can blow it off all you want, but I know you're worried too."

"Why do you say that?" Poland ceased his massage of Lithuania's shoulder, simply resting his warm hands there for the moment.

"Why else would you come in here so early?

"Omigod, Liet, I was totally worrying about you!" His partner protested and Lithuania merely rolled his dark green eyes.

Suddenly Poland trailed a hand down Lithuania's arm, dusting his fingers lightly over the sleeve until they met the brunette's own fingers.

"What are you doing?"

"I don't have a rosary with me," Poland answered as if that explained it. Lithuania supposed he should have known better than to expect a sensical answer.

He watched in silence as the smaller, blonde nation began toying with his index finger, muttering silently in the Polish dialect of their nobility:

"Hail Mary, full of Grace..."

_"Promise me you won't leave me?"_

_-_1772-

He had never realised how big and cold his bed was.

For centuries now, Poland had been sharing this bed with Lithuania. In the winter they had curled up under thick blankets stuffed with the finest goose feathers. In the summer they'd lain together in the heat wearing nothing at all. And now...?

The blonde sat up, pulling his knees to his chest. His whole body ached all over. Today Russia - Russia, who had once been just this little farmer kid! He was huge now! - had taken his Liet away.

And Poland soon realised that there was nothing he could do. Even if he hadn't been fighting Russia, he would have been in a tremendous amount of pain from what Prussia and Austria were doing elsewhere on his territory.

Of course, he hadn't wanted Lithuania to worry about him - Lithuania's stomach always hurt when he worried. So rather than stand up and give Russia the satisfaction of knocking him down once more - it wouldn't have been hard to do, after all - Poland had merely called out something cutesy and teasing. So Lithuania wouldn't know how much pain he was in, of course.

"Liet, your face is like so funny right now!"

It wasn't as if it was a lie, after all. Lithuania was not as weak as some thought, and Poland knew that. In fact, before joining with him, he'd been afraid of the Baltic nation, having heard stories about how brutal he was in battle. So seeing him whining like a kid could be comical. Still, he knew immediately it was the wrong thing to say.

Poland fell back onto his pillow, his body protesting immensely. Christ, it hurt so much. If only Lithuania were here, he'd know what to do to make some of the pain go away.

"Dammit," The blonde whispered, reaching out to the empty half of the bed. "Why'd you let him take you, Liet?"

If, way over at Russia's house, Lithuania could somehow hear him, Poland had no way of knowing. He probably couldn't anyway. Still, the blonde whispered to the wind, hoping it would somehow go east to Russia's house, "I still love you Liet... Come back to me... I totally can't sleep alone."

For the first time in centuries, he cried himself to sleep that night.

_"Of course I won't!"_

_-_1793-

If there was one thing Lithuania knew, it was how to pick his battles. Trying to gain independence in his weakened state from one such as Russia was something he quickly learned it would be better not to attempt, and so the Baltic nation was forced to adjust to life as Russia's assisstant.

At least, "assistant" was the word Russia used to describe him in polite company.

Lithuania felt more like a servant, especially at the moment: he had baked little i_piroshkis/i,_ or small Russian meat pies similar to Poland's pierogi, and was now bringing them to where Russia was hosting representatives of other countries. Though he was a nation as well in his own right, Lithuania's role in meetings like this was that of Russia's lapdog. He didn't like it one bit, but it was a good lot better than the alternative.

And with such thoughts spiraling his brain, making his stomach twist in worry (Not a new sensation for the brunette nation-tan), Lithuania made his way down hallway after hallway, towards the meeting room. Raising a hand to knock upon a closed door, he was startled to hear a voice on the other-side:

"It doesn't matter - you two were out of line!"

"Austria?" Lithuania whispered to himself. But what would Austria be doing here, at a time like this? Austria's ruler was certainly not fond of Russia's own, calling Miss Catherine "That Woman" rather than by name.

"You have no reason to be mad," that was Russia's voice, and a tone Lithuania recognised. Russia was almost certainly saying this through a smile. Behind the smile, the tall nation was almost definitely very angry.

"No reason indeed!" Austria sounded mad as well. "Poland has complied with everything we had expected of him - he even adopted a constitution, becoming a modern nation in a much cleaner way than that France!" That was right, France had murdered one of Austria's princesses.

"Since when does any of that crap matter to you?" A third voice. Lithuania gulped when he recognised it as Prussia's. Prussia had never liked him, harrassing him for years even after he had converted to Catholicism, and so the white-haired nation's presence here in Russia's house could not be good.

"Ah, I know!" Russia's voice again. "Could it be that Austria is jealous?" Jealous of what? Lithuania bit his lip as he set down the plate he was holding to press an ear to the door.

"J-jealous?" Austria sputtered indignantly. "How dare you imply such a thing? I already stated exactly what I feel about another partition - you two had no business doing such a thing without first consulting me!"

Lithuania gasped openly - Poland had been partitioned again! A myriad of different emotions flooded his brain: Worry. Regret. Fear. Anger...

Anger, both at the group in the meeting room for doing this, and at Poland himself for the last thing he had said to him.

It was anger that Lithuania had settled on when he again picked up the plate of food and entered the room. The nations inside immediately went silent (Though Prussia continued to mutter) as they turned to watch as he set the plate in front of Russia.

"Lithuania," Russia greeted him with false warmth. "You remember Prussia and Austria, yes? We wondered if you had forgotten my request for food."

Lithuania inwardly cursed as he sank into a bow. "O-of course not, Mr. Russia. I'm sorry for the delay."

"Don't let it happen again," Russia warmed. "Oh, and Lithuania. One more request."

"Yes, of course. Anything Mr. Russia asks of me."

"I have a lot to talk about with Prussia and Austria. Please show our companion to the sitting room. We don't want to bore him with talk of politics," Russia gestured across the room, and Lithuania noticed for the first time that there was another nation-tan in the room.

"P-Poland!" Lithuania yelped in surprise. But what was the blonde doing here? What kind of a game was Russia playing?

Russia gestured to the door with a smile, and shaking, Lithuania walked over to it, motioning for his partner - no, his _former_ partner - to follow.

No sooner had the door slammed shut did he whirl around to look at the blonde. He had forgotten how small Poland was, looking even smaller in ill-fitting clothes. Lithuania forced himself to ignore the bruise marring the shorter's face as he exclaimed:

"What are you doing here?"

"Trying to get Gdansk back from that Prussia loser." As usual, Poland sounded as if he didn't care. Lithuania knew he did, but was still angry. "And like, why the hell did you bow to Russia?"

Face flushing, the brunette glared. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

"Woah," Poland threw his hands up. "What's your deal, Liet? In case you, like, didn't notice, I'm the one who's totally suffering here."

"Selfish as always. I'd hoped the partitions would humble you, but you haven't changed at all, have you?"

Taken aback, the blonde stuck his lower lip out. "I'm totally being serious here, Liet!"

"So am I!" Lithuania yelled. "Do you have any idea what I've been through because of you?"

"How is any of this my fault? You should totally be blaming those three jerks in there!"

"I'm not talking about the partitions! Even before that, it was always all about you. The religion my nobles practised, the language they had to speak - it was all Poland's! Most of that territory had been mine, and all over Europe they called it Poland! It's always about Poland, isn't it? And when Russia took me away, when I needed you most? You still only thought of yourself! How is that supposed to make i_me/i _feel, Poland?"

The blonde didn't say anything, standing there with a glare. Lithuania was fuming.

"Nothing to say to that? It figures! You only care about yourse-"

_WHAP! _Lithuania was cut off by a mean left hook to his jaw. It stung, but it was more the shock of Poland hitting him that threw him off than the actual pain factor.

"Y-you hit me!"

"I'm sorry!" Poland yelled in reply. The apology wasn't just for the punch, but for everything else as well. Somehow, even after being separated for so long, Lithuania knew this. And as he watched the blonde nation's shoulder's sag, he felt his anger melting away too. "Liet, you have to believe me. I totally swear to God, if I'd known-"

"Polska," Lithuania cut him off in Polish.

"Lietuva," Poland answered back in Lithuanian.

"It's okay, Poland. I-it's okay," the brunette rubbed his stinging jaw with one hand, pulling his former partner closer with the other. "You don't have to say it. I know."

The two remained like that for a good while. Neither said a word. Neither cried. They just held on, seemingly for dear life, as if they knew it would be the last time they would see each other for hundreds of years.

_"I totally need you to promise me!"_

_-_1795-

Only two years passed before Russia, Prussia, and Austria divided the small part of land that had been left of the Commonwealth. Though Prussia took the capital, it was Austria who Poland ended up living with.

It could have been worse, Poland supposed. At least he could hang out with Hungary, who he'd always liked. And that Italy guy was way cool.

Most importantly, though he was no longer on any maps (Not even the one he was currently looking at in Austria's study), Poland was still alive. He hadn't disappeared. And so he had high hopes that he would rise again.

Brushing two fingers over the city of Vilnius in what was now Russia's territory - a city he himself called Wilno - Poland made a promise to himself.

Someday, when he was back on the map, he would get Lithuania back from that _dupa _Russia. He would get him back and never let him go.

Letting his gaze move across the room to fall on the window, Poland focused on one particular group of stars. Lithuania had once told him what this constellation was supposed to be, but all it looked like to him was a bunch of white dots. No matter.

"Kocham cię, moja Litwa."

In his head, he could still hear his Liet's gentle voice replying "As tave myliu."

It wasn't enough. It never was anymore.

_"...I promise, Poland. I'll never let that happen."_

_-fin-_

Historical notes:

Sigismund Augustus, the last of the Jagiellons, died in 1572, after about 200 years of Jagiellon rule. Leaving no heir, there was a long delay in choosing his successor. Among the candidates were an Austrian Archduke (Son of Emperor Maximilian II) and Ivan the Terrible of Russia. Wanting to secure the throne for himself or his sons, the Austrian emperor proposed a proposition to Ivan of Russia, that they should partition Turkey. Ivan wanted to instead partition the Commonwealth, with Lithuania going to Russia and Poland proper to Austria.

However, the Polish throne eventually went to a Transylvanian prince, Stephen Batory. He was succeeded by Sigismund III, first of the Vasa dynasty, who lead a crusade against the Russians. For decades afterwards, Cossack revolts against Poland in support of Russia caused the Commonwealth to lose territory, including the important city Kiev.

The gentry and nobility of the Commonwealth of this time all spoke Polish and regarded themselves as Poles, even if they were ethnically Lithuanian (i.e. the Radziwills) or Ukrainian (i.e. the Wisniowieckis).

About a century afterwards, Prussia (under Frederick the Great) pressed for a partition of the now severely weakened Commonwealth. Russia had not yet agreed, but their Queen, Catherine the Great, placed Stanisław Poniatowski on the throne. Frederick the Great stated it was important to "keep Poland in a coma". Poland attempted to revolt, but were crushed. This gave Poland's neighbours an excuse to finally partition the Commonwealth. claiming it would otherwise descend into anarchy.

By a series of treaties, Russia, Prussia, and Austria annexed between them about 84,000 square miles. Poland wrote a constitution in 1791, but despite this, a second partition followed in 1793, with Russia and Prussia taking a total of about 120,000 square miles. (Austria did not take part in the second partition) What was left of the Commonwealth, about the size of modern-day Great Britain, was divided in 1795 between Prussia, Austria, and Russia.

I also tried to forshadow what would happen in the early 20th century with Poland's unsuccessful attempt to take Lithuania's capital of Vilnius.


End file.
